The Asia Pacific Corporate Travel Outlook: Where to for fares and rates?

Cutting edge market data and predictions on where the market is headed for 2017.

2016 State of Business Travel: Business Traveller Spend and Behaviour

Presenters:

Sabre Travel Network, VP Sales and Market Development, Todd Arthur

ForwardKeys, Chief Marketing Officer, Laurens Van Den Oever

11:55

Disruptive innovation in Corporate TravelIn today's environment of expanding choice, access and freedom, the new tech-savy business traveller is demanding more - more choice, more personalisation and more disruption. But who are the major disruptors in the industry today and what affect will they have on your travel program in the future?

Payments Big Picture Q&A: Understanding the payments landscape in Asia - the perceived challenges and the current reality of what’s possible today in payments.

A high level view of travel payments in Asia, Is there a “Travel Payments Guide for Dummies” which can tell our audience of the terminology, acronyms and a brief explanation of available products? How do today’s available products and solutions differ to what we see emerging and in use in other regions of the world?

Can current and emerging products change the landscape significantly in parts of Asia and what is the “size of the prize”? What cost benefits are there, and who will be the beneficiary from overhauling current processes and practices? (Note, what are the practices that can be overhauled)

What products are relevant to Asia, what is present today (e.g. BTA, Lodge, Corporate, P, Virtual), and what is the difference in Debit, Prepaid and Credit……..

How does the cost of acceptance (to the merchant – airline, hotel, TMC) vary between pre-funded, debit and credit products?

The Great Debate: Overview of the evolution of distribution of air travel to the corporate travel market, with a focus on the Payment / Settlement Industry in Travel - acceptance, cost & risk. Are the latest challenges, opportunities & benefits fully understood?

There have been big changes in Payments and Risk since IATA originally mandated Resolution 890 in the 1970’s and last revised it back in 2014, and this has been recognised by IATA with the first step to a New Generation of payment via the recently passed IATA Resolution 8xx at the Passenger Conference in Singapore just a few months ago. This along with IATA’s New Generation IATA Settlement System (NG ISS) including EasyPay, Agency Accreditation Models; Risk Management; & Global Insurance.

We explore what these changes mean for both the agent and its customers, and if the changes now being implemented will truly bring the right benefits to airlines, TMC’s and travellers alike.

What are the key elements of NG ISS and how do they impact TMC’s and their travellers / corporate clients

Agency Accreditation

Risk Management

Global Insurance

IATA Easy Pay

We also ask if the new EasyPay is a closed loop scheme, other than cost and speed to receipt of funds by the airline (with zero risk of default), how does that benefit the corporate client and their TMC?

Should it matter who owns the Line of Credit with a credit / debit card issuer – the traveller, his/her employer or an intermediary? If there are compelling reasons, what are they?

For example, if the traveller or his / her company have a corporate card or a credit card facility with an issuer, and it is used by an agent to pay the airline via a BSP process & the airline chooses to be the merchant, why should a credit card held in the name of the agent with an issuer be treated differently by IATA or an airline.What sort of future looking payment options should be considered in the BSP (in addition to IATA Easy Pay) to enhance the cash flows of both the agent and the airline?

Can there be a “ win-win” for airlines, intermediaries and the corporate client / traveller, perhaps allowing earlier settlement for the airline and structure credit to agents differently?

If there was an “Open Loop solution” where the process and cost of payment & acceptance moved to a lower cost solution that benefits the airlines and the customer alike who is the winner and loser in this equation? One where the agent could use cards held in their name, therefore requiring further modification of Resolution 890.

How is payment using cards held in the name of the agent seen by the airlines / IATA today, and how does this differ from the original purpose of IATA’s resolutions governing this and the date of the last review?

Recent evolutions in the Payments Industry and the new range of products and solutions that are available (Prepaid, Debit, Virtual, etc) can significantly reduce risk, its cost and the cost of acceptance for airlines, hotels & other vendors?

Are there challenges specific to Asia, or will Asia have to follow a global directive on any new models IATA develop?

In this session, we will explore the bigger picture related to acceptance cost and the role it plays in helping airlines to reduce cost of distribution, whilst reducing the cost of risk / fraud, minimising friction and therefore reducing shopping cart abandonment at the payment page.

What are the tangible benefits (and who is the beneficiary) via reduced operating cost & increased sales (therefore revenue) to suppliers and intermediaries?

Can both benefit by a better knowledge and understanding of contemporary and emerging Payment Solutions.

Can emerging solutions be used to remove barriers to growth of some intermediaries in the Asian markets – EasyPay tackles the current “Capping” of cash sales (for example), what is being done to alleviate the issue of One Time Pin’s and the cost / time taken to obtain it in the TMC process?

Here, we aim to help the audience understand the opportunities and benefits for all players in the distribution chain, as well as tackle "what’s in it for the corporate travel buyer"?

What is the impact on interchange fees and cost of acceptance via the plethora of new payment options – prepaid debit, credit, different schemes, new players – we’ve heard of the global players PayPal, ApplePay, but there are numerous local players, plus the emergence of BitCoin

Is AirCoin/BitCoin a fad or an opportunity in the travel industry?

What is the role of mobile – ApplePay, AndroidPay, SamsungPay are well known globally, but here in Asia there are many who are huge already – AsiaPay, AliPay, TenPay, AirTel, HelloPay, RedDot and 2C2P to name a few – what do we need to do now to ensure the travel industry is an early beneficiary of this mobile evolution in payment?

We aim to explore if there is a link between modernising payment & settlement, to the age old debate of what is cheaper and more effective distribution (or corporate air travel) - Direct or Indirect?

We’ll also explore in today’s age of a focus by airlines to grow revenue and profits from improved sales of ancillaries (going beyond unbundling elements previously included in the base fare). What is the prospect of a role for a TMC in managing the ancillary conundrum for its corporate clients, and at what benefit or detriment to the airline / vs. its corporate customer.

Keynote Address: What is FinTech and what could it do for corporate payments?

A definition of FinTech and examples of who the players are and what they’ve brought to the travel industry so far:

What are the next horizons and solutions we should expect – from who and what pain points do we hope they’ll solve?

What about the longer term future, what do we see in the Crystal Ball of payments? How could FinTech reshaping corporate travel and aviation payments in Asia?

RFi Consulting, Managing Director, Lance Blockley

14:55

Expert Panel: Payments in Travel – The 360 perspective from issuers to users

We put Payment System options under the microscope, including different payment products, terms & fees (Prepaid Debit, Credit, Corporate Travel Accounts and Virtual Cards), and what this means for process efficiency for the TMCs, Corporates & Merchants. We ask:

What are the pros/cons of the various options and what are the benefits are to the Traveller, Corporate (Travel Manager & Buyer), TMC, Supplier (Hotel, Airline etc)?

Are we seeing improvement in management / reduction of risk and fraud (how does that benefit everyone in reduced cost, and with certain suppliers reduced “friction” - this is equal to lower declines on “check-out”, lower “chargebacks” and lower fraud) Compliance:

What are the policy and duty of care ramifications?

Are all solutions PCI compliant? Do all solutions need to be PCI compliant?

What have we learnt so far from hotel acceptance experiences with Virtual cards?

What should we do differently?

What should TMCs typically expect to see from reductions in transaction length, cost and therefore improved efficiency?

What are the benefits of improved reconciliation of next gen products for Corporates & their TMCs?

Moderator:RFi Consulting, Managing Director, Lance Blockley

Travelport, VP Global Travel Payment Solutions, Alexandra Fitzpatrick

Conferma, CEO, Simon Barker

BCD Travel, Managing Director Singapore, Matthew Stewart

UATP, Director, Regional Operations, Cheng Liang Hung

15:30

Coffee, Networking & Exhibition

Session 4: Big Picture Managed Travel Changes in Asia

16:00

Closing debate: Can LCCs and Premium Economy really drive air spend savings?Low cost carriers (LCCs) and premium economy offer two disruptive new paradigms for corporates - or do they? Experts will share their insights and examine whether the right combination of these opportunities - together with early booking behaviour and sourcing best practices - can deliver savings.